Yet Another Facebook Story: You Don’t Have To Be Facebook To Profit From Facebook

In their efforts to establish a presence on Facebook, eight-of-ten of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca Cola, P&G and Unilever are now using an enterprise solution from New York-based Buddy Media.

The Buddy Media Platform gives brands the tools to manage their Facebook Pages and engage their Facebook fans. Adweek recently named the company an “insurgent” in its Media Agency of the Year report.

The company is one of the fastest growing in digital marketing. It has 115 employees (up from 15 a year ago), $33 million in venture capital funding and a seven-figure valuation.
Like many good startup success stories, Buddy Media had a pivotal moment. It happened 18 months ago, when the New York company decided its original business as an outsourced Facebook app developer wasn’t working. It was seeing little growth and some apps, like FedEx’s Launch a Package, were merely short-term successes. A production services business, it was clear, did not elicit big multiples.
“We were a glorified agency,” says Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow. “Instead of building microsites, we were building microsite apps.”

In other words, make stuff that helps people do the things they want or need to do, and you’ll go far.
Clients typically pay about $5,000 per month for Buddy Media’s software as a service. The company has a total of 650 clients. That multiples out to $60,000 per client per year, or $39 million in annual revenue. Not bad for a company that helps other companies “do Facebook.”

Native Nebraskan in the Pacific Northwest. Chief Storyteller at Bonehook, a guide service and bait shop for brands. Co-founder and editor of AdPulp. Contributor to The Content Strategist. Doer of the things written about herein.

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